1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tremolo devices useful in modulating the pitch of the strings on a guitar, and more particularly to a tremolo assembly that allows for linear modulation of an array of individually adjustable string terminals in response to the movement of a tremolo bar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The rendition of music is often found more pleasing when the individual sounds are varied by small pitch modulations which combine in complex beats and harmonics with other concurrent sounds to produce a rich tone pattern. In popular music the convenience in attaining this pitch modulation is a highly desired facility and stringed instruments like guitars have had some mechanical developments in the past for the convenient rendition of this effect. The rendition of this effect, however, entails substantial manual facility which has led to a simplification of the mechanism itself, most often resulting in a structure that modulates all the strings in unison. With time and experience the richness of sound obtainable by these modulations became a matter of some further refinement and those engaged in the endeavor now desire the facility of selective modulation both upward and also downward from the selected tone with precise adjustment control over each excursion.
The past development of devices for manually modulating the pitch of a guitar has been extensive, to a point of acquiring its own nomenclature now referred to as a ‘tremolo,’ and one early example of such a mechanism can be found in the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,146 to Fender. This and similar tremolo mechanisms are characterized by a pivotal structure supported in a transverse recess adjacent the string bridge and pivoted by manual articulation of a cantilevered bar, known as the tremolo bar, against a spring bias, thereby modulating the tensioning contact, and thus the pitch, of the strings. Various modifications of this general arrangement have been developed since then, as exemplified by the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,945 to Borisoff, U.S. Pat. No 6,084,166 to Lee, U.S. Pat. No 5,783,763 to Schaller, et al. and others. While suitable for the purposes intended devices of this nature rely on pivotal motion of a common transverse structure against a bias spring, thus resulting in a string contact which induces repetitive application of bending stresses thereto. Since the pivotal center of this displacement is determined by the balance between the string contact and a return spring the resulting equilibrium contact position is poorly defined and the tuning precision of the instrument is therefore often compromised. Moreover, this same point of contact imprecision is exacerbated by the varying heights to which the various string are adjusted relative the pivotal center resulting in a resulting variation in the tremolo excursion of each string. The contact imprecision also tends to dampen string oscillations, reducing the length of time that a note is ‘sustained’ and the consequent absence of any individual string adjustment further reduces any effective adjustment for the interplay between the performer's fingers and the individual strings. A linear tremolo mechanism that allows precise adjustment of the tremolo excursions while also accommodating full adjustment control of each individual string is therefore extensively desired and it is one such mechanism that is disclosed herein.